Upton accepts voting award

Town officials were on hand Tuesday night to receive the Sen. Louis Bertonazzi Foundation Outstanding Citizenship Award for 2011-2012.

By Mike Gleason/Daily News staff

Milford Daily News

By Mike Gleason/Daily News staff

Posted Jan. 23, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jan 23, 2013 at 11:04 PM

By Mike Gleason/Daily News staff

Posted Jan. 23, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jan 23, 2013 at 11:04 PM

UPTON

» Social News

Town officials were on hand Tuesday night to receive the Sen. Louis Bertonazzi Foundation Outstanding Citizenship Award for 2011-2012.

The award is given to the town that has the highest percentage of its registered voters participate in elections. The foundation considers 19 area towns, and determines the winner by taking the average of five elections over the previous two years.

Bertonazzi said at the meeting that he established his foundation when he left the legislature.

"There were three areas I was concerned about, and where I wanted to continue to have an impact," he said. "Those areas were education, citizenship and culture."

According to Bertonazzi, the foundation addresses education by providing a $1,000 award to an outstanding educator in Milford, and culture by selecting an Italian language student for travel to Italy.

"This (citizenship) area involves the 19 towns I represented at one point – first, in my 10 years in the house and next during my 17 years in the senate," he said. "It’s just sad sometimes to see the way people take for granted the privileges they have.

"I thought, if we could get the kinds of efforts that go into Thanksgiving football rivalries and use that to get people to take pride in the way they vote, it might help," he added.

The town received a plaque, to be displayed at the town hall for the next two years.

Included with the award is a $1,000 grant, intended to increase participation further. The town will also receive a banner noting that Upton is the "Best Voting Community 2011-2012."

"The purpose of the citizenship contest is to incentivize communities to look more carefully at how they exercise the hard-earned freedom to vote that has been handed down to them by the courage and sacrifice of so many who came before them," reads a release from the Bertonazzi Foundation.

Mike Gleason can be reached at 508-634-7546 or mgleason@wickedlocal.com.